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Sunday, April 03, 2016

Why Does Indy's Red Line Cost Less Than Other BRTs?

IndyGO has approved plans to build the first phase of its Red Line, the first of several bus rapid transit systems planned for Central Indiana. It calls for spending $96 million on a 13.6 mile line to run along College Avenue as far north as 66th Street in Broad Ripple, moving south through downtown and then as far south as the University of Indianapolis campus. IndyGo plans to rely on a $75 million federal grant from the Federal Transit Administration to pay the bulk of the first phase construction costs. It plans to rely on its own reserves and TIF funds to make up the difference.

Based on information Advance Indiana has been able to gather from other BRT projects, planners estimate costs anywhere from $15 to $25 million per mile to construct a BRT with dedicated bus lanes and frequent bus stations built along the line that more closely resemble what riders of light rail systems experience. That's what IndyGo is planning for the first phase of the Red Line. Yet the estimated cost of construction is running only a little over $7 million a mile, far less than the projected costs for BRTs and well below what other cities have spent.

Indianapolis transportation planners like to point to the success of Cleveland's RTA Healthline. The Cleveland BRT is just 6.8 miles and connects the downtown to East Cleveland along the highly-trafficked Euclid Avenue. The Cleveland BRT began service in 2008 and cost $200 million to construct. While it runs half the length of Indianapolis' proposed Red Line, it has more than double the number of stations planned for the Red Line, 58 stations compared to 27 planned for the Red Line. Cleveland's BRT has about 14,000 daily riders. The Red Line is projected to have about 11,000 daily riders.

The Alameda-Contra Costra BRT just approved for the East Bay area in Oakland has a cost of $178 million for a 9.5 mile line with 27 bus stations, which works out to about $17.5 million per mile. Lansing, Michigan has plans for an 8.3 mile long BRT with 27 stations with an estimated cost of $133 million, which is over $16 million per mile. Albuquerque just approved a smaller bus rapid transit line to run along its busy Central Avenue that it projects will cost $119 million to build, or about $10 million per mile. It will have a similar number of bus stations along its planned route as the Red Line. Detroit wants to build a 27-mile BRT from its downtown all the way to Pontiac along Woodward Avenue. That's a shorter distance than what is planned for the full length of the Red Line, which would eventually go as far north as Westfield and as far south as Greenwood. The price tax for the Detroit BRT is from $405 million to $675 million, which is anywhere from $15 million to $25 million per mile.

The bottom line is that the Red Line's projected costs for Phase 1 are way below the actual and projected costs to construct BRTs in other cities. Why is this? The Red Line BRT model is based on the use of dedicated bus lanes with platform stations built in the street's median for easy boarding and unloading like the model used by other cities. This may explain why the proponents are trying to ram through the income tax increase vote by referendum during this year's general election. The proponents know they lack the funding to build the first phase of the Red Line. The quarter percent increase in the income tax is needed to fully fund phase one construction. All bets are off for the cost of the other BRTs planned, which you can bet will top out well north of a billion dollars in total costs. Without additional federal or state funding, Indianapolis taxpayers are going to be saddled with major future tax increases to support a BRT. Making matters worse is the lack of commitment from any of the suburban counties to enact similar tax increases any time in the near future to support an expanded BRT to reach into the suburban communities. Indianapolis taxpayers deserve honest information, not lies. Don't tell us you can build a BRT for half the cost other cities spend unless you have an explanation for why Indianapolis can build a BRT so much more cheaply.

12 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I don't see how they are possibly going to put a platform bus stop in the median of Shelby St and still have a dedicated bus lane. I own an apt building on Shelby St across the street from Garfield Park. It's two lanes going north and two lanes going south. And one of those lanes going north is for parking except for 2 hrs in the morning for rush hour. How in the world are they going to squeeze a dedicated bus lane in there and a bus stop? Nobody has said anything to me about improvements being made on the street or sidewalks near my property.

You are so persuasive and factual that the only reasonable conclusion is that the proponents of this boondoggle are lying sacks of horse manure. But, it does offer Lying Joe an opportunity to shed that (perhaps unfair) epithet by doing hard nosed due diligence the failure of which would make him Peterson II. Democrats, in particular, haven't evinced any recognized ability to do hard nosed due diligence. They, like their Republican friends, find it a lot easier to roll over. The low balling of costs is a tried and true method of lying to the ignorant who, faced with sunk costs, can usually be reluctanly persuaded to accept a lower standard of living for their family because they are ignorant people....the kinds of people that politicians most easily betray. Counting on this our current sacks of manure are betting on the come. It would be a nice bit in their teeth to have some sort of agreement ahead of time that when the costs exceed their really stupid estimates then the project stops, they resign in disgrace, and they agree to have their wages garnished forever....(even if their surname is Mahern).

We need a bus line that stops often all around town not one freaking line! For the people that ride the bus lines not a bunch of well off people who will think it is cool. Aghhhhhhh oh well why get upset this will be a disaster. It's not if it doesn't work you can move the line. How about all those people who are always standing outside the gas - water company. Always the poor people on Merdian street.

The plan for the Red Line along College Avenue will have dedicated north-south bus lanes with boarding stations located in the middle of the street. Left turns will not be allowed except in busier intersections. As conceived, it is a bus rapid transit line.

The Red Lie is another corrupt & bankrupt idea; like Indiana's historic canal debacle. Principal proponents must be held accountable for their deceptive claims. It's time to compile a liars list.

Statist idiots are likewise planning to ugly the canal with a concrete levy or graffitti magnet in the Butler area; literally constructing a barrier that threatens the life & property of those living on its other side in the Rocky Ripple area; for whom evacuation will be more difficult & their property subject to greater risk. Insurance companies (PC, Life) & banks (mortgage) should pay attention to what's going on here; on behalf of their customers & shareholders...

The Crony-Capitalist Pigs will feed at the Federal, State, and Local Feeding Stations. They will leave us with piles of manure and pronounce it a success. Since this is a method for the Politicians to feed the Crony-Capitalists, all the so-called neighborhood groups who receive some scraps will be marshaled to back the Plan.

Something simple like providing more service for existing routes would not fit the plan. The Plan in it's simplest terms is a scam.

On the southside, the line on Shelby Street will not have stations in the median. Stations along that stretch will be on the outside. The plan is for the parking on each side to become full time and there will only be 1 lane in each direction.

Good get, Gary. Thank you. I suspect the $96 million number has something to do with the Federal Small Starts grant of $75 million, without which there is no project. I read somewhere (maybe here) that without Obama's DOA $10/bbl tax on oil that the grant (which purportedly has been awarded) will never be funded. IndyGo themselves have gone on the record at IBJ and said that without the federal money this project is DOA.

With all of that in mind, I suspect that they're going to try and use the sales tax as a means of securing other financing to build this thing, because I don't believe they're going to see a penny from Small Starts. If so, it's even MORE inadequate and will eventually balloon to .5 or a full percent which, of course, will chase even more business to the urban fringe, rendering the whole project worthless. Yep, that sounds about right. Business as usual, Indy-style.

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